We woke up early so we can fit in one more adventure before we fly back home, but not before complimentary breakfast! We both had the local Mayan specialty breakfast and it was a wonderful choice!
We spent the early morning hours driving around and exploring Valladolid. One of our favorite street was La Calzada de los Frailes. This sixteenth century street was built to unite the small indigenous town of Sisal with the growing city of Valladolid. The allyway is lined with brightly painted homes and shops and spills directly out to the magnificent Convent of San Bernardino of Siena.
Chichén Itzá was the final must-do on our list. We planned to get there as soon as it opened (8am) to beat the tour groups that arrive in the late morning and early afternoon. Kukulkan (aka El Castillo) and the massive ball court are the highlights here and they’re both easily accessible and smack dab in the middle of the archeological park.
Kukulkan, also known as El Castillo post-colonialism, is a dedication to the Mayan Calendar. This ancient Mayan civilization created temples that are said to be based on the movement of our sun and other planets. Their calculations were impressive over a thousands years ago and still are today. The steps of Kukulkan’s four sides are 91 each, and with the temple at the top it equals 365, which represents our 365-day year!
There’s another not-so-secret mathematical wonder at Kukulkan said to be related to a sacred and beautiful bird, the queztal. If you give a loud clap around the base of the pyramid, a loud chirp resonates back towards you!
We walked around and spent some time checking out the Ball Court, The Plaza of 1,000 Columns, and El Caracol (one of the oldest observatories known to humans and still intact). Ancient Mayan astronomers made simple, yet consistent observations and were amongst some of the first humans to share information about our neighboring planet, Venus. They tracked its revolution quite precisely (using only their naked eye) and made correct predictions about the comparative frequency of Venus revolutions to Earth revolutions (5 Venus cycles equaled 8 solar/Earth year, therefore Venus should…and did…make an appearance every 8 years.). Many of the other astronomical events that are of importance to early Mesoamerican culture can be found in Chichén Itzá, but on El Caracol specifically.
We had a few more hours before our 6pm flight back home, so we decided to stop in Puerto Morelos to walk around and have some lunch. We found this really awesome lunch spot a little off the beaten path (it was really only a few blocks south of the main city center along the beach road), but it had an all around great vibe with the owner there serving us personally. The place is called “DK” and they market themselves as a “shipping container turned dive kitchen” (their words, not our). The only thing better than the vibe was the amazingly fresh food. We had fresh lionfish tacos and a shrimp tostada.
After a delicious lunch, we got in our car and headed back to the airport for our flight back to New York City. It was a quick trip, but we were able to see and do most of our list…and also realize Yucatan Peninsula is definitely worth visiting again!
It’s always a bittersweet feeling for us leaving a country we’ve enjoyed so much, but next month, we have another AMAZING adventure planned..so make sure to stay posted! 🙂